Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1–12
Today’s gospel story is about some people who did
not even come from the neighborhood, who did not belong in a Jewish home, who
did not even worship the same god. Yet, they came to visit the new baby, paying honor to him as a king.
They were Bedouins from Arabia, or Persians, or
Ethiopians, somewhere east of Judea. Whoever they were, wherever they came
from, they were definitely not Jews. They were Gentiles. They were leaders,
important people in their own tribes and countries. They came to worship the
new king, born in Judea. When babies are born, people bring gifts. When kings
are born, visitors bring more expensive gifts. These visitors brought special
gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought about these
visitors, and about these gifts. How did they use these gifts in caring for
their baby boy? Did they learn that Jesus was important to the whole world? Did
they learn that Jesus was not born just for the Jews, but for all people, no
matter who they were, and where they were from?
Today, I want us to explore the various types of
people we have encountered and the gifts they shared with us, as well as the
lessons we learned from them.
A choir director at a large urban congregation had about 30 children in
a weekday choir. This choir was an outreach ministry, part of an afternoon of
education, activities, and supper for member children as well as the rag-tag
children in the neighborhood.
Several teachers worked with the children each week, and knew it was
time for the children to sing during worship. In rehearsal before worship, in
their freshly laundered choir smocks, they were subdued. They were afraid of
messing up in public. They sang so quietly, the director and teachers wondered
if the children would be able to be heard past the third row.
Then Jamie, one of the neighborhood boys, asked the director how she
wanted him to sing today. “What do you mean?” she asked. Then she remembered
that Jamie was tone deaf, always loud and always off-key. She thought for a
moment, and then replied, “I want you to sing the way God wants you to sing.”
Jamie smiled and led the singing with a loud and exuberant voice. All the kids
in the choir joined him and sang with abandon.
The director was amazed – she had been taught about God’s love for all,
with all their gifts – from a rough and tumble boy from the neighborhood who
happily shared his gift of singing God’s praise.
My parents were smokers, and I always hated the
smell of cigarette smoke. It filled the house, coated the walls, inhabited all
the fabric – the drapes, the blankets, the upholstery. In addition, I was
taught by society that only bad girls smoked. I was appalled one day in junior
high school to see a pack of cigarettes in the purse of one of my friends. I
had an attitude about smokers!
Although I had to accept that my parents and many
of their friends smoked, I didn’t have any friends who did; that is I didn’t until
I was 39 and in Eastern Europe. In a group of 20 women, only one of us smoked.
Her name was Terry, and she and I were like sisters. Terry became my confidante
on the trip and remained a good friend for years, even though we lived 1,500
miles apart. She gave me the gift of her love and friendship and trust, and taught
me that not all girls who smoked were bad girls.
On the TV show Little House on
the Prairie, Mrs Oleson is the woman we love to hate. She runs the general
store in Walnut Grove, and insists on being as proper as she can be. She prides
herself on her self-righteousness.
In an episode that ran last week, Lou was a circus clown. He and his
wife and mother park their wagon near the town so they could live a more normal
life, and get “real jobs”. Unfortunately, the wife dies in childbirth, and Lou is
unable to find work in town because he is a little person, a dwarf (played by
Billy Barty). One day, Lou takes some food from the store in order to feed his
family. Mrs Oleson discovers the theft and wants Lou arrested and tried and
sent to prison.
In the meantime, Mr French has dug a new well for some neighbors. He has
to leave the site and covers the hole with some loose boards. Mrs Oleson’s
adopted daughter Nancy and a boy are playing, knock the boards aside, and Nancy
falls into the well. People realize that Lou is the only adult small enough to
go down the well and bring Nancy back to the surface. They get him from the
cellar of the store they use as a jail, and he is lowered down the well and brings
Nancy up out of the well.
After the rescue, Lou slowly returns to the cellar. Soon, Mrs Oleson
comes down the stairs and talks to Lou. Knowing Mrs Oleson as we do from years
of watching the show, we wonder if she will ever get out the words. Slowly, she
does. First, she thanks Lou for rescuing her daughter. Finally, she gets the
rest of it out. She apologizes for her prejudicial attitude against Lou; she
has talked to the banker and Lou now has a job there. He and his family are
welcome in town.
Mrs Oleson learns a lot from Lou. She learns that she is prejudiced;
she learns that even little people have gifts; and she learns that it is not
the end of the world when she is forced to say she is sorry. Lou has shared
himself, willingly going deep into the earth to rescue a child, giving the gift
of life to the child and her family.
It is easy, so easy, to think about those who are
different from us as less than us, as too different from us to be worthy of God’s
love. But we are all different, one from another. We eat too much or too
little; we have perfect pitch or we are tone deaf; we are single, married,
widowed, or divorced, or all of the above; we are black, brown, yellow, red or
white, or a little of each; we are Democrat or Republican or Independent or
Libertarian or No Party Affiliation at all; we are physically fit or somehow
disabled; we pray daily or only in times of dire need; we have never done drugs
(or cigarettes or alcohol), we tried them once or twice in college, or we are
addicted to them; we prefer the old hymns, folk tunes, rock and roll music, praise
songs, or hip hop; and on and on and on.
We all have prejudices. Once in a while, someone
appears in our lives and helps us recognize our prejudices. They give us the gift
of self-awareness, which can lead us to confession, and apology, and forgiveness.
This week, pay attention to your prejudices. Give thanks
to the person who helps you see this attitude in yourself. Confess your
prejudice; apologize for it, if only to yourself and God. Receive forgiveness, and
seek to change, to become more accepting of others.
Jesus came to us to teach us how to love, really
love, all people. The shepherds and the magi, the tax collectors and other
sinners, the scribes and the Pharisees and the centurions were all welcome in
his home. Can we follow Jesus and strive to be just as accepting? I hope so.
Please pray with me. Little Lord Jesus, teach us
to love. Teach us also the ways in which we find it hard to love. We thank you for your love and your patience and
your forgiveness. In your holy name, Amen
